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TUESDAY, Nov. 1, 2016 – Released prisoners may be less likely to commit violent crimes if they're prescribed certain kinds of psychiatric medications, a new study suggests. These medications can affect someone's mental state. They include antidepressants, antipsychotics, psychostimulants, drugs to treat addiction and antiepileptic drugs, the researchers said. The study authors looked at information on more than 22,000 prisoners in Sweden. They were released between July 2005 and December 2010. The researchers had a median of nearly five years of follow-up information. During that time, 18 percent of the prisoners committed violent crimes, the researchers said. Three classes of drugs were linked to much lower rates of violent crimes. Antipsychotics were tied to a 42 percent reduction in violent crimes. For psychostimulants, the reduction was 38 percent. Drugs to treat addiction were ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 17, 2016 – Taking antipsychotic medicines in early pregnancy does not significantly increase the risk of birth defects, a new study finds. "In general, the use of any medication should be avoided during pregnancy [if possible]," explained study co-author Krista Huybrechts of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "However, for women suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder, avoiding medication use is often impossible, given that there are very few alternative treatment options," she said in a hospital news release. But how safe is exposure to these drugs for the developing fetus? To find out, Huybrecht's team tracked Medicaid data on 1.3 million pregnant women in order to assess the effects of older (typical) antipsychotic drugs and newer (atypical) versions, which are less likely to affect fertility. The study focused on the most ... Read more

MONDAY, July 25, 2016 – About 25 percent of dementia patients in U.S. nursing homes are still quieted with risky antipsychotic medications. Now, a small study suggests that managing these difficult patients, instead of medicating them, could obtain better results. "Drugs have a place, but should not be first-line treatments. They don't work well, and there are side effects," said study author Dr. Henry Brodaty, a professor of aging and mental health at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Antipsychotic drugs such as Risperdal (risperidone), Abilify (aripiprazole) and Seroquel (quetiapine) are approved to treat serious psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. But in seniors, they're often used to calm aggressive or violent behavior linked to dementia. "They're basically a sedative," said Dean Hartley, director of science initiatives with the ... Read more

TUESDAY, March 29, 2016 – Antipsychotic medications, such as haloperidol (Haldol) or clozapine (Clozaril), aren't appropriate for preventing or routinely treating delirium in hospitalized patients, a new study suggests. The researchers reviewed past studies and found that antipsychotic drugs given before surgery didn't prevent delirium. These drugs also didn't make any difference in the course of delirium in medical or surgical patients, the study authors said. "The American Geriatrics Society guidelines suggest avoiding using these medications as a part of routine care of a patient with delirium," said lead researcher Dr. Karin Neufeld, clinical director of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. Delirium causes confused thinking and diminished awareness of the environment, such as time and place. Delirium is often caused by physical or mental illness, such as ... Read more

THURSDAY, Feb. 18, 2016 – Schizophrenia patients are at significantly increased risk of attempting suicide, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data from more than 21,700 Canadians, including 101 who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. About 39 percent of people (two in five) with schizophrenia had attempted suicide, compared with about 3 percent of people without the mental health disorder. "Even after taking into account most of the known risk factors for suicide attempts, those with schizophrenia had six times the odds of having attempted suicide in comparison to those without schizophrenia," study author Esme Fuller-Thomson said in a University of Toronto news release. Fuller-Thomson is a professor of social work at the university. When researchers focused only on the 101 individuals with schizophrenia, they found that "women and those with a history of drug or alcohol abuse ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25, 2015 – The drug clozapine reduces symptoms in schizophrenia patients who don't benefit from other antipsychotic medications, a new study indicates. The finding, culled from an analysis of Medicaid data on more than 6,200 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, was published recently in the American Journal of Psychiatry. "These results give clinicians important guidance for how to help an extremely vulnerable group of people," said study author Dr. T. Scott Stroup, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and a research psychiatrist at New York State Psychiatric Institute. "By helping individuals with treatment-resistant schizophrenia get effective treatment sooner, we can expect better outcomes," Stroup said in a Columbia news release. Antipsychotic drugs relieve symptoms in most people with schizophrenia, but up to ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21, 2015 – Antipsychotic drug use in American seniors increases with age, a new study cautions. The researchers found that the percentage of people aged 80 to 84 who received a prescription for an antipsychotic drug was twice that of people aged 65 to 69. This increase is occurring despite the known risks of serious side effects such as stroke, kidney damage, and death, they added. "The results of the study suggest a need to focus on new ways to treat the underlying causes of agitation and confusion in the elderly," study author Dr. Mark Olfson, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Columbia University in New York City, said in a news release from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). "The public health community needs to give greater attention to targeted environmental and behavioral treatments rather than medications," he added. The ... Read more

FRIDAY, Oct. 15, 2015 – Researchers say they've found a link between brain inflammation and schizophrenia. British investigators used PET scans to assess immune cell activity in the brains of 56 people. Some had schizophrenia, some were at risk for the mental disorder, and others had no symptoms or risk of the disease. The results showed that immune cells are more active in the brains of people with schizophrenia and those at risk for the disease. "Our findings are particularly exciting because it was previously unknown whether these cells become active before or after onset of the disease," lead author Peter Bloomfield, of the Medical Research Council's Clinical Sciences Center at Imperial College London, said in a college news release. "Now we have shown this early involvement, mechanisms of the disease and new medications can hopefully be uncovered," he added. The findings could ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23, 2015 – A new report finds that, too often, under-medicated Americans suffering from schizophrenia end up seeking care in the nation's hospital emergency rooms. The report, issued Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that between 2009 and 2011, over 382,000 visits to ERs were recorded for people aged 18 to 64 with schizophrenia. Many of these cases involved people on Medicaid who were either homeless or living in places such as nursing homes or group homes, the researchers said. Emergency departments "may serve as a safety net for schizophrenic patients not otherwise receiving care," said Dr. Michael Albert and Linda McCaig, both of whom work at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Mental health expert Dr. Michael Birnbaum said the new findings were "not surprising." "Unfortunately many people with mental illness ... Read more

TUESDAY, Sept. 22, 2015 – A drug that combines a cough suppressant with a heart medication might offer a safer option for calming the agitation that commonly affects people with Alzheimer's disease, an early clinical trial suggests. The study, of 220 Alzheimer's patients, found that the drug – called Nuedexta – generally eased agitation symptoms over 10 weeks. And it did not worsen patients' problems with memory, thinking and judgment, researchers reported in the Sept. 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. As Alzheimer's disease progresses, people often go through periods of agitation that can range from restlessness and pacing to aggressive behavior like yelling, fighting and destroying objects. If those issues can be managed without medication, that's always best, said Dr. Sam Gandy, a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital, in New ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2015 – A growing number of teens and young adults are being prescribed powerful antipsychotics, even though the medications aren't approved to treat two disorders – ADHD and depression – they are commonly used for, a new study shows. Researchers found that antipsychotic use rose among children aged 13 and older – from 1.1 percent in 2006 to nearly 1.2 percent in 2010. And among young adults – people aged 19 to 24 – antipsychotic use increased from 0.69 percent in 2006 to 0.84 percent in 2010. Of concern to some experts are the conditions for which many of these antipsychotic prescriptions are being written, namely attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves this class of drugs for psychiatric conditions such as psychosis, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or impulsive aggression tied to ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2015 – The first generic versions of the atypical antipsychotic drug Abilify (aripiprazole) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. License to produce the drug in multiple strengths was approved for Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Hetero Labs, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Torrent Pharmaceuticals, the agency said in a news release. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression or manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual moods and activities, affecting the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Symptoms typically include alternating periods of depression (lows) and increased activity and restlessness (highs). Schizophrenia, another brain disorder, affects about 1 percent of Americans. Symptoms typically begin in people younger than 30, and include hearing voices, believing other people ... Read more

MONDAY, Oct. 20, 2014 – A child receives the wrong medication or the wrong dosage every eight minutes in the United States, according to a recent study. Nearly 700,000 children under 6 years old experienced an out-of-hospital medication error between 2002 and 2012. Out of those episodes, one out of four children was under a year old. As the age of children decreased, the likelihood of an error increased, the study found. Though 94 percent of the mistakes didn't require medical treatment, the errors led to 25 deaths and about 1,900 critical care admissions, according to the study. "Even the most conscientious parents make errors," said lead author Dr. Huiyun Xiang, director of the Center for Pediatric Trauma Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. That conscientiousness may even lead to one of the most common errors: Just over a quarter of these mistakes involved a ... Read more

FRIDAY, July 18, 2014 – Antipsychotic drugs are associated with a slight decrease in both brain cells and connections between brain cells in schizophrenia patients, a new study indicates. However, this loss of what is called brain volume does not worsen schizophrenia symptoms or affect overall mental function, researchers reported in the study published online July 18 in the journal PLoS One. "It's important to stress that the loss of brain volume doesn't appear to have any effect on people over the nine-year follow-up we conducted, and patients should not stop their medication on the basis of this research," study author Dr. Graham Murray, of the Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute and the department of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge in England, said in a university news release. "A key question in future will be to examine whether there is any effect of this ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, June 4, 2014 – Although antipsychotic medications have not been shown to cause birth defects, new research suggests these drugs can have other harmful effects on babies. Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat a range of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. An Australian study found that babies born to women on these medications are more likely to spend time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or to need specialized care after birth. The researchers cautioned that health guidelines for the use of antipsychotic drugs during pregnancy should be clarified. "There's been little research on antipsychotic medication during pregnancy, and if it affects babies. The lack of data has made it very difficult for clinicians to say anything conclusively on how safe it is for babies," lead investigator, Jayashri Kulkarni, director of the Monash ... Read more